Malta | week 9

11.24.2014

This week we got to help 2 people write their first talks ever. The first was Chaty. I think I wrote about him a couple weeks ago. He is from Ghana, and he just moved down here from Italy. He gave his talk on charity, and we outlined the whole talk for him (what it is, scriptures, quote from the prophet, ect), and then just told him to tell a short experience or example at the end. He closed by talking about the charity the missionaries had who found him, taught him, and baptized him. He talked about the sacrifices they made leaving school, family, and friends to serve. While he was talking, I tried to put myself In Chatys shoes. He never had the chance to go to school, and he left his family and friends in Ghana to find work so he could hopefully find a better life. He knows that we have families, and we will soon go back to them and school in America. When Moroni said, "charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own...believeth all things, hopeth all things, [and] endureth all things" he was describing Chaty perfectly. His talk touched everyone. Then we helped Damyan, who is giving his talk next week on faith. When we finished, we formatted it like a general conference talk-his picture in the top left, name, title of the talk, with the thesis sentence writen in italics on the top. He is good to go. 

This week we also recieved our first member referral in a long time. It was from a lady named Marjorie from the Philippines. She is friends with most of the Philippini on the island, and she has brought 3 different friends to church in the past 2 weeks. We taught one her friends last week and it was really great. It makes all the difference in the world when people have a good friend to be there with them to support them and help them understand everything.  

In our district meeting this week we learned about following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. A couple days ago we were on a crowded bus with a ton of people standing up. There was a really short girl in the back trying to get off. When she was behind me she tapped my foot and I moved so she could get by. The next guy was wearing some really big beats by dre. She tapped his foot and he didnt move. She nudged his foot a little harder and he still didnt move. Then she kicked his foot, and he still couldnt feel anything. I thought it was crazy that he was listening to his music so loud he couldnt feel someone kicking him. It made me think of the commandments, how they help us in ways we dont fully understand. It didnt make sense to me how someone couldnt feel a kick in the foot because of their music. I realized that it is the same way with spiritual things. It is really hard for some people to see and recognize Gods love because of the worldly things they are surrounded by even when God is trying to kick them in the foot spiritually to let them know he is there. 

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. We are going to Catania for zone conference this week, and we will be having an American Thanksgiving on the military base there! I cant wait. Take care. 

Anziano Smith